Mushy Gushy Holiday
by MagicalxMinx
Summary: Hermione Granger had a problem. Oh man, did she ever have a problem. This problem, however, was much more personal. She had, through the course of time, developed some feelings for a certain red-head. No, not that one. Hermione Granger, ever the masochist, had gone and developed feelings for none other than Fredrick Gideon Weasley. Dammit.


Hermione Granger had a problem.

Oh man, did she ever have a problem.

True, throughout the years, Hermione Granger had experienced quite a few...well...problems, what with the whole Wizarding World at war, and her being one of the most important additions in ending that war - according to others, of course, she would never accept that claim.

This problem, however, was much more personal. She had, through the course of time, developed some feelings for a certain red-head.

No, not that one.

Hermione Granger, ever the masochist, had gone and developed feelings for none other than Fredrick Gideon Weasley. Dammit.

In her defense, she couldn't really be blamed for this mess of emotions she was currently experiencing. For the last 3 years, since the war had come to a successful end, people started to pair off...quickly. Harry and Ginny were never even a question. They were a match made in heaven, and the second the dust had settled, literally and figuratively, the two started up right where they had left off. Ron and Hermione seemed to be the natural next couple. So they gave it a shot.

But if she were being honest with herself, she always knew things wouldn't work out with Ron. They wanted a lot of different things in their lives - he was desperate to pursue anything that would continue the road to fame that he had stumbled onto during the war, while Hermione was desperate to get as far away from the headlines as possible. Ron wanted to go to Quidditch games and drink too much, and flirt too much with too many women, while Hermione preferred...well, not that.

She couldn't blame him, really. He was a war hero, and wanted to live that life. He loved being showered with affection and attention, something he really never got a lot of as a child, and there were plenty of women who were eager to give him exactly that; while Hermione saw Ron as the boy that she grew up with, not some hero who needed to be worshipped. He deserved to be happy, and living the life of a bachelor was exactly what he needed. In his defense, he never strayed in their short time together. He got upset a number of times when Hermione refused to treat him differently, they fought, as they always did, but he never accepted any of the offers that were, quite literally, thrown in his face while they were together.

Their split was amicable, which was all that Hermione could have hoped for, considering how close she had been with his family.

With Ron bringing home a different girl every week, and virtually everyone else paired off, Hermione couldn't help but spend some quality time with Fred. When everyone else had been off snogging or planning weddings and futures with their significant others, George Weasley included, the two would often entertain each other with a game of Wizard's Chess, or Fred would entertain Hermione with a story from the shop that week.

She had, of course, always been impressed with the intelligence the twins had, even in school when she would chastise and take points from them, she would constantly discover new spells and potions that she would take mental note of to look up later when confiscating products. There was no denying that the twins were absolute geniuses. Maybe not in the typical way, the Hermione and Percy way, where they knew the answers to every question and were eager to share the information with everyone, but in an entirely different way, that made Hermione very curious.

When they first started hanging out together outside of the weekly family dinners at the Burrow, it was for purely scientific reasons. He had mentioned a new product that he and George were developing for the shop, and mentioned that they were experiencing some difficulties in perfecting it. Hermione offered to stop by during the week and see if she could offer some help from a different perspective. Fred sent her a beaming grin and took her up on the offer. Hermione forced herself to ignore the butterflies that had erupted in her chest.

Soon, it became a weekly tradition. Hermione would go to the shop every Wednesday after her shift at the Ministry to meet Fred and George, and they would discuss and troubleshoot any problems the twins had with any of their latest inventions. Hermione would take notes, and review over the next couple of days, then every Friday night, Fred and Hermione would meet for dinner and drinks at the Leaky Cauldron and go over any suggestions she had. Fred and George had offered to pay her for her help, but she refused, insisting that she liked the challenge and just wanted to help out her friends. In return, Fred insisted that he pay for dinner and drinks every week when they met up.

She wasn't quite sure why George had never accompanied them on their Friday night business meetings, assuming it was because he wanted to spend his free time with Alicia Spinnet, his girlfriend. Whether that was the reason or not - Hermione was grateful.

She knew that her friendship with Fred was never going to be anything more than just friendship. He was incredibly successful, and had just as many women pouring over him as Ron did. She couldn't even remember the amount of times he had been hit on by girls while they were out. He never took any of them up on the offer, though, which always had Hermione wondering if he had some secret girlfriend in another part of the country or something.

It wasn't as though men didn't show any interest in Hermione. She had long grown into her features, and learned to tame her bushy mane, though still keeping it big and curly, as it just felt natural to her. She had grown into a very beautiful young woman, and men liked to point that out. She had gone on a few quiet dates with a few quiet boys, and she had gone on a few rowdy dates with some more exciting boys, but she never felt any sort of connection to any of them.

Of course, she knew the reason for that was because she was far too involved in the almost completely made up relationship she had with Fred.

It was so easy with him, they had known each other forever, she knew his whole family and he knew everything that had happened with hers. They could joke about things together, and were comfortable enough to just enjoy each others company.

It didn't hurt that the man was drop dead gorgeous as well.

Looks never mattered to Hermione, she always felt that a person's mind and interests were much more important. But getting to spend every Friday night staring at one of the most handsome men she had ever known was definitely a positive in their friendship.

Hermione looked at herself in the bathroom mirror of the Leaky Cauldron, trying to get her curls to lay right and trying to smooth out some wrinkles she didn't notice in her blouse. It was Friday, and Fred would be there any minute.

"I don't know why you even bother, Hermione. It's a business dinner, he's not going to look at you and suddenly realize he's fallen head over heels for you." she muttered to herself, smearing lipstick on anyway - just incase.

The enchanted mirror replied to her: "Dear, you look fabulous, and if he doesn't fall head over heels for you, then he's an idiot!"

"Thanks." she replied, not exactly trying to tell the mirror her and Fred's exact relationship. She was not quite drunk enough for that.

"Happy Valentine's Day, sweets!" the mirror chirped as Hermione headed out of the bathroom.

That made her stop dead in tracks. It couldn't possibly be Valentine's day, could it? It was just Christmas only a few weeks ago! She checked a calendar on the wall and noticed that, yes, it was in fact February 14th. She wasn't sure how she had missed that all day at work - or how she had missed all of the cheesy pink and red decorations all over the Leaky Cauldron.

She couldn't believe that she had ignored the fact that today was such a...mushy gushy holiday. She immediately panicked, wondering if Fred would still be intending to show up to dinner. They hadn't discussed any changes to their typical schedule, but it was Valentine's day, afterall. Surely he would want to spend it with someone - well if not special, at least someone he was attracted to.

He was one of Witch Weekly's most eligible bachelors for the last 3 months, after all. Wouldn't he want to take advantage of that fact and reap all of the benefits?

Hermione made her way to their usual table feeling stupid. Of course he wouldn't be meeting her there! Still she had already ordered a drink, anticipating their weekly meeting, so she had to, at the very least, finish her drink before seeing herself out.

She started to scan the room, searching for her best escape route, when she spotted that ever familiar flash of red hair and freckles. Fred had shown up, and he was dressed just a touch better than he usually was. The twins were definitely snappy dressers, enjoying the fact that they had the means to buy themselves nicer clothes now that they were very successful business owners. So Fred never exactly looked...bad. But today he was dressed in a very flattering light grey button up with dark fitted jeans. He looked absolutely delicious. He must have a date after their meeting tonight, Hermione reasoned.

Fred's eyes met hers, and he grinned his famous grin before heading to their table.

"Fred! Hi! I-I didn't know if we were still meeting this evening." Hermione said, standing to greet her friend with a hug.

"Why not? It's Friday, right?" he said, looking truly confused at her statement.

"Well, yes, but I only just realized when I got here that it's also Valentine's day, so I assumed - anyway…" was her reply as she took a long sip of her butterbeer.

"You assumed….what, exactly?" Fred asked with a smirk. He had a look in his eyes, mischievous as always, but something extra too that Hermione couldn't place.

"Well, I just assumed that you would have a date or something. But you probably are just meeting someone later!" she laughed.

Fred's grin faltered slightly, but it was back a second later. "Is that your plan for the night then? Have me buy dinner and drinks and then run off with some other bloke for the night? Hermione Granger, who would have thought you were such a tease!"

Hermione blushed at the mere thought of her ever being considered a tease to him. "No, of course not! You know you're the only plans I ever have on Friday nights, Fred."

"Mostly because I have to spend the rest of the weekend recovering from the intense butterflies and replaying our entire conversation a hundred times…" she added in her head.

"Well, same here, Ms. Granger." Fred offered her a wink, and the two of them ordered their meals as the waitress showed up to the table.

Their dinner continued as it always did every Friday night. They would talk and joke, discuss Hermione's notes on their products as they drank, and then at the very end of the evening, when Hermione had pushed the conversation to the very last bit, they would say goodbye, Fred would offer to walk her home, and she would decline, insisting that it made no sense, as he lived so close and it was so out of his way.

She could feel herself running out of topics to talk about, and the typical dread she felt at the end of their evenings together was starting to set in.

"Well, I guess we'd better pay our tab then." she sighed.

Fred looked like he wanted to say something, but thought better of it and shut his mouth, instead nodding awkwardly in response. After dinner and drinks had been paid for, they stood and got their coats and scarves on, heading to the door together. The small restaurant was starting to get busy, and there were quite a few people waiting on tables, so Fred put his hand on Hermione's back, ensuring they didn't get split up amongst the craziness. Hermione's face flushed and her heartbeat picked up at the gesture. She could have cursed herself for getting so giddy at the smallest touch.

When they made it out to the street, Hermione turned to Fred with a small, sad smile, ready to end their night. Fred, however, seemed to have other plans.

"Listen, I know it's Friday night, and we always go get dinner and drinks, discuss the prank of the week, and then part ways, and that's our routine, but you know, I'm just not feeling like ending my night yet. So, if you're down for it, I was thinking maybe we could go grab some dessert somewhere? Or just go for a walk, possibly? I have tomorrow off, and I'd just really like to unwind from the week, and who better to do that with than my best gal-pal, right?" he offered.

Best gal-pal. That one left a sour taste in Hermione's mouth, and she must have forgotten to disguise her face, because his grin slipped away fast and he added "We don't have to though! I get it if you're too tired from your week?"

Hermione may have been a lot of things - sad, desperately in love with a man who referred to her as a "gal-pal", and incapable of hiding her face when he reffered to her as such, but the one thing that Hermione was absolutely not, was stupid. And only a very very stupid girl would ever turn down what was as close to a date with Fred Weasley as she was ever going to get.

"No! Of course not! I wouldn't mind some company, actually! Crookshanks is great and all, but he doesn't ever add anything to the conversation, and it's dreadfully boring." she retorted. Fred cracked his ulcer-inducing grin at her, and stuck his hand out. Hermione stared at his hand in response.

"Are we apparating somewhere?" she asked, trying to figure out why on earth he would want to hold her hand otherwise.

Fred laughed at her. "No, no, the streets are just really crowded. I don't want us to get separated or something."

She nodded her head and accepted his answer. Of course it wasn't something romantic - this was FRED WEASLEY. He had absolutely no interest in her what-so-ever. She was his best gal pal. She grimaced again at the thought, then hid that with a smile as she took his hand.

Unfortunately, Diagon Alley was completely packed with couples. Every place Fred and Hermione tried to go to get dessert was completely booked or had an hour wait for a reservation. Even their walk was disrupted by all of the couples rushing by, girls clinging to the flowers and teddy bears they had been given.

"Okay. This is a bust, I'm not going to lie." Fred said, as the two of them made their way to the front of Fred and George's shop - one of the only solaces they could find, as there were no restaurants in the immediate vicinity.

"Yes, clearly!" Hermione laughed back as a young couple pushed past them rushing to try and make their own reservations. She couldn't help but feel her heart drop slightly. Even though his hand was still holding on to hers, she knew he would let go soon, and she would have to apparate home, alone. Well, with Crookshanks.

"Why don't you come up? George is over at Alicia's for the weekend, mum sent over a homemade chocolate cake just the other day, and I am pretty sure we have a bottle of mulled mead in the kitchen that hasn't even been opened. We can just continue our evening here without being bombarded by all the craziness…" he offered.

Hermione's heart skipped a beat. Or more accurately it skipped about four beats, and then tried to make up for it by beating a mile a minute.

Did Fred Weasley just invite her into his *empty* flat for drinks on Valentine's day? That didn't sound like a gal-pal invite to her.

She shook her head to clear the thoughts. "Yeah, that would be wonderful, Fred. Thank you." she grinned at him.

"I knew you couldn't resist mum's chocolate cake." he said, laughing as he put down the wards of the shop so they could get into his flat.

"Well, you know me. I can't really resist anything Weasley related." she replied, noting the flirtatious tone in her own voice, and being completely unable to stop it.

Fred's eyebrows shot up, and unless Hermione was seeing things, his cheeks had the tiniest twinge of pink in them as he replied, equally as flirtatiously, "Is that so? I'll remember that for later, then."

Hermione's face turned bright red and she looked down and fidgeted with her hair to hide it. Fred was, by nature, an incredibly flirty guy, and she knew that. She just couldn't help but wish that it were something more.

As they walked into the living room, Fred headed towards the kitchen to get them each a piece of cake and a drink. Hermione looked at her reflection in his window and tried to make her hair behave by glaring at it.

"So, I don't have any of that mulled mead, but I've got a bottle of red wine, you like red, right?" he called from the kitchen.

Hermione did love red wine. It made her feel very loose and relaxed, and that was definitely something that she wasn't usually feeling around Fred. "Oh, sure!" she called back, she was once again applying some lipstick, just a small amount, and for whatever reason, the hair on the back of her neck started to stand up. She was feeling incredibly nervous. Perhaps it was because she had never been in Fred's apartment alone with him. George was always there when she had been there in the past. Maybe it was the implication of being in his flat with him, alone, on Valentine's day, drinking wine, that made her nervous. Or possibly just the normal old fact that she was hopelessly, desperately praying for tonight to end in more than just a friendly hug and an "I'll see you next time."

Fred came out carrying two glasses of red wine with two pieces of chocolate cake floating mid air behind him.

Hermione sat on the small loveseat, and was surprised when Fred chose to sit next to her instead of on the chair across the end table.

"Alright, I just have to ask - why on Earth are you choosing to spend Valentine's day eating cake with me, when you could be out with virtually anyone else." Hermione asked, taking a long sip of her wine, hoping that she could use that as an excuse if he thought she was being too forward with her questions.

He took a second before he responded, and when she looked up at him to make sure she hadn't crossed a line, he was looking at her with interest in his eyes.

"Well, I guess I could ask you the same thing, couldn't I?" he responded.

"Sure, I suppose, but I'm not on the cover of magazines advertising to all of the wizarding world that I am an eligible and desirable person." she said with a grin.

"Well what if you were?" he asked, suddenly much more serious than he had been before. "If you were able to be with anyone in the world right now, who would you be spending your evening with?"

Hermione kept his gaze for a moment, before deciding that if she continued to look in his eyes any longer she would lose the ability to speak. She was lost here. She didn't know where this conversation was going on his part, but all he was going to end up doing here would be drawing out a confession of love from her.

After a second, she decided that maybe that was for the best. Maybe she should just tell him the truth, and see where it would go from there. Afterall, she had never lied to Fred before and she didn't particularly want to start now. She took another long drink of wine, summoning all of the courage she had in her before answering.

"If I could be with anyone in the world right now, I would still be right here." she said quietly.

That seemed to be exactly the answer that Fred was looking for, because he gave her the biggest smile she had ever seen on his face.

"Well, okay then." he said. "That's exactly how I feel as well."

Hermione's heart was practically beating out her chest at this point, and she was pretty sure that Fred could hear it. Her eyes shot up to meet his, searching for some trace of a joke, and feeling her heart shudder when she didn't see one. "Fred...I…" she couldn't find any words.

"There is something that I have been wanting to do for...a long time, and you can tell me to stop if you want to…" his voice was soft and thick and Hermione could feel herself leaning in closer to him, hoping. Her eyes drifted shut as she felt him getting closer to her.

He pressed his lips to hers, and at that moment, her body felt like every nerve ending was on fire. She could not believe this was happening. Was this happening? Her eyes shot open and she couldn't help but pull away slightly, looking at him with a surprised expression.

His eyes got wide as well, and he put his hand on her shoulder. "Hermione, I'm sorry - I thought...I thought you wanted-"

"I do." she whispered back, not caring if this was all a dream. She leaned back into him and felt his arms wrap around her. She placed her lips back on his, and left them there until she couldn't breathe anymore.


End file.
